Although many Americans regard Thanksgiving as a home-grown holiday, complete with family and traditions, some Texas A&M students have finished their Thanksgivings thankful that the day was over.
“I hate Thanksgiving,” said a student, who wished to remain anonymous, of the holiday that he said has “terrorized” him most of his life.
During his freshman year at A&M, he had a serious injury and was broken up with by his girlfriend around Thanksgiving week.
After losing an election for the position of president for a University organization by one vote, he punched a wall and door out of anger, breaking his right hand.
“I spent pretty much the whole Thanksgiving passed out on the couch because I had Vicodin in me,” he said.
A few days later, his girlfriend from high school broke up with him.
“Right before we broke up, she ran up a thousand dollars on my calling card calling her new boyfriend,” he said.
During his sophomore year, after living in a dorm, he got extremely sick.
“I lived in Walton, which is not exactly a healthy place to live, and got mono and just about died,” he said.
The next year, his grandmother died while his family was driving to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. And two years later, his parents divorced the week of Thanksgiving.
“The only good Thanksgivings I’ve had since then have been since I met my wife,” he said.
For Candace Williams, a Class of 2004 graduate, one Thanksgiving left a bad taste in her mouth – literally.
Williams was asked by her mother to help prepare the Thanksgiving dressing the day before the holiday and was given detailed, step-by-step instructions. On Thanksgiving Day, after everything had been cooked, something didn’t smell right to Williams’ mother, whose radar-accurate nostrils pinpointed the source of the smell – Williams had cooked with baking soda instead of baking powder. Her mom panicked, asking what happened and to show her exactly what she did while cooking.
“She burst out crying and yelling, and (my mother) has never gotten over that. I am banned from the kitchen on holidays,” Williams said.
Holly Morgan, a junior sociology major, said her worst Thanksgiving happened when she was in elementary school.
“Due to some silly misbehaving that we had done the day before, my mother decided to punish my brother and me by taking away the one thing we truly loved – Thanksgiving,” Morgan said.
Morgan had to stay in her room, forbidden from eating any of the food. After dinner, her mother made her and her brother scrape all the leftovers into the trash.
Later that day, her family went to a nice restaurant in Houston, where there were deer heads, bear skins and various other animal heads and furs on the walls.
“I didn’t order a single thing because I refused to have Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant, and especially one that resembled a hunting lodge,” Morgan said.
She said she cried during the entire dinner, in fear of the dead animals adorning the walls.
“I still have horrible flashbacks of that hideous restaurant,” Morgan said. “Thanksgiving has never been the same to me since.”